


a tactile lullaby

by sapphee



Series: a soft thing [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Hair stroking, Intimacy, M/M, Pre-Relationship, physical affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-22 10:38:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8282882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphee/pseuds/sapphee
Summary: It starts like this: with Nursey putting a hand on top of Dex’s head gently.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy and thank you to Ngozi for Check Please! <3

It starts like this: with Nursey putting a hand on top of Dex’s head gently. For team photos, then _selfies_  that are initiated by Chowder, followed by ones that aren’t, and then selfies that are taken when Chowder’s not even _present._  

The first time it happens, Dex shoves him away. The next time, Dex elbows him. By the third, fourth, fifth times, Dex has accepted his fate—Nursey’s hand on his head is not going to go away, and he doesn’t want it to.

Dex doesn’t know when it happens, but one day they’re studying together on the Haus couch—Dex was sprawled on it doing his compsci homework, and then Nursey came and insisted he needed to be on the couch, too, so now Nursey’s sitting upright at one end, and Dex has his laptop on Nursey’s lap, and Nursey’s got one hand on Dex’s head and the other holding up the book he’s reading for class—and Dex realizes that at some point, the head pats turned into Nursey stroking his hair.

Nursey is carding his fingers through Dex’s hair, which makes Dex suddenly and ridiculously glad that he keeps his hair so short, because the heat of Nursey’s fingers feels so good. Now Nursey’s lightly massaging Dex’s scalp, completely absentmindedly as he continues reading. He only ever lifts his hand from Dex’s hair to flip a page, always flipping quickly, but Dex still finds himself missing Nursey’s hand for those brief seconds anyway. 

It’s not the first time that Nursey’s done this, Dex thinks. The realization is slow to manifest in his mind, but once it does—it's like when water gets into the tiniest crack in the dam. One second, the dam is still standing; the next, only water can be seen.

And for Dex, it's a flood. Complete devastation.

Nursey has been stroking Dex’s hair and massaging his scalp for at least weeks, if not months, now. A Manhattan native, Nursey is prone to walking fast, but even then he can't quite compare to how Dex is always in a hurry to get from one place to the next, and Nursey prefers reaching forward to put a hand on Dex’s head to remind him that he’s going too fast. These days, it’s more a brief ruffling of his hair than a head pat, a firm glide from the top of his head to the back, before the inevitably aching release. Dex can’t fall asleep on roadies if he’s not leaning on Nursey’s shoulder with Nursey’s hand in his hair because then his head feels cold, Nursey’s hair-stroking a rhythmic, sleep-inducing, tactile lullaby. All their selfies nowadays depict practically the same pose of Nursey’s hand in Dex’s hair, with only the change in backdrop indicating the passage of time.

“You’ve stopped typing,” Nursey murmurs. He sounds like he’s talking into Dex’s ear. Dex turns to face him—Nursey _was. Is._ Dex knows he looks ridiculous, but he doesn’t want to leave the haze he’s in—pink cheeks and matching ears, messy, messy hair, half-lidded eyes.

“Was thinking,” Dex replies just as quietly. “’m stuck.”

“On what?”

Dex opens his mouth to reply, but— _skritch, skritch—_ once again, he’s lost. The slight head scratch Nursey does just then has plunged Dex deep into whatever it is—whatever they _are—_ with no hope of return. An abyss of never-ending sensation that drags shivers down his spine and envelopes his entire body.

“You,” he says honestly, before looking up to meet Nursey's eyes, steeling himself for Nursey’s reaction.


End file.
